Donyell Malen

Donyell Malen

Malen playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Donyell Malen
Date of birth	(1999-01-19) 19 January 1999 (age 25) [1]
Place of birth	Wieringen, Netherlands
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Borussia Dortmund
Number	21
Youth career
2007–2015 [3]	Ajax
2015–2017	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2018	Jong PSV	22	(13)
2018–2021	PSV	81	(40)
2021–	Borussia Dortmund	77	(25)
International career‡
2014	Netherlands U15	5	(1)
2014–2015	Netherlands U16	5	(2)
2015–2016	Netherlands U17	20	(1)
2016–2017	Netherlands U18	7	(1)
2017–2018	Netherlands U19	10	(8)
2018–2019	Netherlands U21	8	(2)
2019–	Netherlands	30	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Donyell Malen (born 19 January 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Netherlands national team. Malen started his professional career at PSV Eindhoven. At youth level he also featured for Ajax and Arsenal. ^{[4] [3] [5] [6]}

Club career

Early career

Born in Wieringen, Hollands Kroon, Malen began his career with Ajax in 2007. Despite a great deal of resistance coming from Ajax, in 2015 he left Ajax to join English club Arsenal. Malen joined up due to Arsenal being the side of his heroes Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. ^{[3] [7]}

Arsenal

Malen whilst featuring for Arsenal

Malen began playing for the youth teams of Arsenal in the Youth Premier League together with the FA Youth Cup, and the UEFA Youth League in the 2015–16 season. He began to display his impressive talent during his debut season for the Gunners. ^[4] He scored in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final away to Coventry City which Arsenal won on penalties. ^[8] Coming off the bench, he scored against Manchester City in the semi-final of the 2016 FA Youth Cup at the Emirates Stadium. ^[9] and played 30 times during the season, scoring 14 goals. ^[4] During the 2016–17 season, Malen was used a great deal on the wing, ^[10] and was included in the club's 2017–18 pre-season tour of Australia and China. ^[11] He made his senior debut for Arsenal in a 2–0 win over Sydney on 13 July. ^{[12] [13]}

PSV

Malen was sold by Arsenal to PSV Eindhoven in late August 2017. ^[14]

Malen went on to play as a winger for Jong PSV. ^[15] On 24 November Malen scored a brace in Jong PSV's 6–0 thumping of Telstar. ^[16] He again netted in PSV II's 3–0 win over FC Oss on 27 November. ^[17] Malen scored and picked up an assist in PSV II's 2–3 loss to Fortuna upon 4 December. ^[18] He again scored in a 1–1 draw away to Go Ahead Eagles on 12 December. ^[19] Malen went on to be named in Voetbal International's Jupiler League team of the week a day later. ^[20]

Malen was awarded the Bronze Bull for being the Best Talent for the second period of the 2017–18 Jupiler League on 29 January 2018. ^{[21] [22]} He went to make his debut for PSV in a 4–0 Eredivisie win over PEC Zwolle on 3 February. ^[6] Malen went on to win the 2018 Eredivisie title with PSV. ^[23] He also ended the 2017–18 season as Jong PSV's topscorer. ^[24]

On 14 September 2019, Malen scored all 5 goals for PSV as they thrashed Vitesse. ^[25] On 29 October 2020, he scored a brace in a 2–1 away win over AC Omonia in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. ^[26] Malen had his most productive campaign for PSV during the 2020–21 season, scoring 19 goals in 32 matches as his club finished second in the Eredivisie. ^[27] He added a further 8 goals across Europa League and KNVB Cup competition and he also registered 10 assists, displaying his characteristics as a multi-faceted forward. ^[27]

Borussia Dortmund

On 27 July 2021, Malen completed a move to Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, signing a five-year deal. ^[27] On 20 February 2024, he became the first Dutch footballer to score against a team from his country in the UEFA Champions League after doing so in a 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven, his former club. Michael Mols achieved this feat for Rangers against PSV Eindhoven twenty five years prior to this.

International career

Youth

Malen in March 2017 whilst playing for the Netherlands

Born in the Netherlands, Malen is of Surinamese descent through his father. ^[28] At the 2016 Under 17 Euros held in Azerbaijan, Malen played throughout the tournament where the Oranje got to the semi-finals. ^{[29] [30] [31]} He went on to feature for the Netherlands under-18 team. ^[32] He also was called up, in December 2016, for the Dutch squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship ^{[33] [5] [32]} In March 2017 Malen scored in the 86th minute of an U18 game against Austria to equalise for the Dutch in an eventual 1–1 draw. ^{[34] [35] [36]}

He was part of the Dutch squad which took part in a four-team tournament, scoring a 90th-minute equaliser against Portugal and then scored a brace in a 9–0 rout of Finland. ^{[37] [38]} During an U19 Euro qualifier on 7 October, Malen netted for Netherlands's U19s to cap off a 2–0 victory at home against Hungary. ^{[39] [40]} Malen two days later scored in extra time to secure a 2–2 draw with Slovenia, meaning Netherlands finished top of the group and qualified for the 2018 U19 Euros. ^{[41] [42]} With the score locked at 1–1 in a friendly against Italy U19's, Malen hit a free kick to score the winning goal on 9 November. ^[43] Malen then scored a brace for the Netherlands in a friendly away to Serbia U19's. ^[44]

Senior

Malen made his senior international debut for the Netherlands on 6 September 2019, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Germany in Hamburg. He came off the bench in the 58th minute and scored his team's third goal in a 4–2 victory. ^[45]

Style of play

Malen is a tremendously quick player who possesses great dribbling skills and an aptitude for prolific goal scoring. Malen has been likened by ex-Ajax youth coach Brian Tevreden to Chilean forward Alexis Sánchez. ^[46]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 April 2024 ^[47]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Jong PSV	2017–18	Eerste Divisie	22	13	—		—		—		22	13
PSV Eindhoven	2017–18	Eredivisie	4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2018–19	Eredivisie	31	10	2	0	8 [lower-alpha 2]	1	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	42	11
	2019–20	Eredivisie	14	11	0	0	10 [lower-alpha 4]	6	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	25	17
	2020–21	Eredivisie	32	19	3	1	10 [lower-alpha 5]	7	—		45	27
	Total		81	40	5	1	28	14	2	0	116	55
Borussia Dortmund	2021–22	Bundesliga	27	5	2	0	8 [lower-alpha 6]	4	1 [lower-alpha 7]	0	38	9
	2022–23	Bundesliga	26	9	3	1	6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		35	10
	2023–24	Bundesliga	24	11	3	1	7 [lower-alpha 2]	1	—		34	13
	Total		77	25	8	2	21	5	1	0	107	32
Career total			180	78	13	3	49	19	3	0	245	100

1. Includes KNVB Cup, DFB-Pokal
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
4. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and five goals in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Six appearances and three goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
7. Appearance in DFL-Supercup

International

As of match played 26 March 2024 ^[48]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Netherlands	2019	4	1
	2020	2	0
	2021	11	3
	2022	2	0
	2023	9	1
	2024	2	1
Total		30	6

Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Malen goal. ^[48]

List of international goals scored by Donyell Malen

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September 2019	Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany	1	Germany	3–2	4–2	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
2	30 March 2021	Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar	8	Gibraltar	5–0	7–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	7 September 2021	Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands	15	Turkey	6–0	6–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	11 October 2021	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	16	Gibraltar	6–0	6–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	14 June 2023	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	22	Croatia	1–0	2–4 ( a.e.t. )	2023 UEFA Nations League Finals
6	22 March 2024	Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands	29	Scotland	4–0	4–0	Friendly

Honours

PSV

• Eredivisie: 2017–18 ^[23]

Individual

• Bronze Bull: 2017–18 Jupiler League ^{[21] [22]}
• Eredivisie Player of the Month: September 2019, ^[49] February 2021 ^[50]
• Bundesliga Player of the Month: April 2023 ^[51]

References

1. "Donyell Malen | Playerprofile | Bundesliga". bundesliga.com. DFL. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
2. "Donyell Malen | Borussia Dortmund | Player Profile | Bundesliga". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
3. "Donyell Malen: Interview". Arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
4. Group, Arsenal Media. "Donyell Malen: Profile". www.arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
5. "Dutch U19 Squad". Ajax Showtime.com.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
6. "Donyell Malen debuteert in het 'grote' PSV: 'In een vol stadion is toch anders'". Omroepbrabant.nl (in Dutch).
7. "Aanvaller Donyell Malen (17) en zijn moeder Mariska Manshanden". Volksrant.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
8. Turner, Andy (15 February 2016). "Match report: Coventry City exit FA Youth Cup to Arsenal after dramatic penalty shoot-out". CoventryLive. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
9. "Manchester City pip Arsenal to FA Youth Cup final spot with 4-3 aggregate victory". The FA. 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
10. "Review: Leicester 0-3 Arsenal – Malen shines as Young Guns victorious". Daily Cannon.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
11. "Arsenal in Sydney". Arsenal.com.
12. "SYDNEY VS. ARSENAL 0 - 2". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
13. "Alexandre Lacazette scores on Arsenal debut in friendly vs. Sydney FC". ESPN FC.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
14. "Donyell Malen joins PSV Eindhoven". Talksport.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
15. "Jong PSV vs RKC Waalwijk". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
16. "Ook PSV-aanvaller Donyell Malen gelooft nu in het ketchup-verhaal". ED.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
17. "FC Oss kansloos onderuit tegen Jong PSV". BD.nl (in Dutch).
18. "PSV II VS. FORTUNA SITTARD 2 - 3". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
19. "Go Ahead Eagles 1-1 PSV II". Soccerway.com.
20. "Limburgse glorie in het Elftal van de Week". Voetbal International.com (in Dutch).
21. "Donyell Malen". Twitter.
22. @ESPNnl (29 January 2018). "🐂 Donyell Malen (Jong @PSV) krijgt de Bronzen Stier voor grootste talent van de tweede periode in de @jupilerleague uitgereikt van een trotse moeder" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
23. "PSV KAMPIOEN". YouTube (in Dutch). Fox Sports.
24. "Balans van de Brabantse Jupiler League-clubs: goalgetter Lieder, donkerrood RKC, smaakmaker Kamaçi". Omroep Brabant.nl (in Dutch).
25. "Donyell Malen: PSV Eindhoven youngster scores five in rout over Vitesse". 14 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
26. "Omonia 1–2 PSV". UEFA. 29 October 2020. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
27. "Borussia Dortmund sign forward Donyell Malen from PSV". The Athletic. 27 July 2021.
28. "Profvoetballers van Surinaamse afkomst". Natio Suriname | Voetbal. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
29. "Netherlands U17s defeated in Euro semi-final". Football Oranje.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
30. "Chong to the fore as Netherlands edge Sweden". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
31. "Portugal see off Netherlands in semi-finals". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
32. "Netherlands U21s beaten by Austria but U18s hammer Czech Republic". Football Oranje.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
33. "2016 UEFA Under 17 Euros - Matches". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
34. @oefb1904 (23 March 2017). "Ebenfalls ein 1:1 gab es für das U18-Nationalteam im Test vs. die Niederlande. Nach 1:0-Pausenführung gleichen die Gäste in der 86. Min aus" (Tweet) (in German) – via Twitter.
35. @ArsenalFC_fl (23 March 2017). "Donyell Malen scores for Holland" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
36. Dutch Football [@Foot_Oranje] (24 March 2017). "Netherlands U18's drew 1-1 with Austria U18's yesterday. Arsenal's Donyell Malen scoring a late equaliser for the young Oranje side" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
37. "Portugal U19s 2-2 Netherlands U19s". Sofa Score.com.
38. "Netherlands U19s Put Nine Past Finland". Football Oranje.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
39. "Holland U19s 2-0 Hungary U19s". Twitter.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
40. "Netherlands 2-0 Hungary". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
41. "GOUDHAANTJE KADIOGLU BEZORGT ONDER 19 GROEPSWINST". Ons Oranje.nl (in Dutch).
42. "Slovenia 2-2 Holland". UEFA.com.
43. "IJZERSTERK ORANJE ONDER 19 ZET ITALIË OPZIJ". Ons Oranje.nl (in Dutch).
44. "Donyell Malen helpt Oranje onder 19 langs Servische leeftijdgenoten". Sport Nieuws.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
45. "Germany 2-4 Netherlands". uefa.com. 6 September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
46. "Ex-Ajax chief says Arsenal whizkid Donyell Malen just like Alexis Sanchez". Ghana Soccernet.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
47. "Donyell Malen » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
48. Donyell Malen at National-Football-Teams.com
49. "Donyell Malen named as player of the month for september". Eredivisie. 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
50. "Donyell Malen named Eredivisie player of the month". Eredivisie. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
51. "Donyell Malen is the Bundesliga Player of the Month for April". Borussia Dortmund. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

External links

• Profile at the Borussia Dortmund website
• Profile at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch)
• Donyell Malen – UEFA competition record ( archive )